Marvel Hire Mark Millar

Mark Millar Is 20th Century Fox's Joss Whedon

20th Century Fox has faced a lot of criticism over recent years for its comic output, frequently for the reason that they’ve been pretty terrible. The Fantastic Four movies, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine — those were some horrible movies (X2 was superb, though, so let’s not forget that). This in mind, it makes sense that the studio has decided to bring someone in to give its Marvel comic movies a good kick-up the Lycra-clad backside. Joss Whedon is busy over at Marvel proper, so Fox has roped in comic book writer Mark Millar.

Millar has a less devoted fanbase than Whedon, the never-wrong of the geek world, but he certainly knows his comics. He was behind the popular Marvel Civil War storyline and a part of the Ultimates comics. Outside of the Marvel universe he’s the creator of Wanted (turned into a film with James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie) and Kick-Ass (currently filming a sequel). So he’s got the chops.

Millar is officially being brought in as ‘creative consultant’ and will primarily work on new directions for both The X-Men and Fantastic Four. The former doesn’t particularly seem to be in need of help, with Matthew Vaughn righting the wobbly X-Men ship in First Class and now working on the sequel, Days of Future Past, and with James Mangold directing a Wolverine sequel from a popular script. Fantastic Four could definitely use a guiding hand though, following two films of such towering blandness it was possible to forget them as they were happening. Josh Trank, director of the imaginative Chronicle, is currently at work retooling that. Presumably, however, Fox is looking beyond the in-development films to the long-term future. On that score, Millar seems a smart hire.

Apes Need A New MasterHaving turned Rise of the Planet of the Apes into a surprise critical and commercial success, it’s a shame to hear that director Rupert Wyatt has swung off to other projects, deciding the follow-up wasn’t for him after many months of development. But mourning is not allowed in the movie world. We must instantly move on to talking about who will fill the gap.

There is already a shortlist to take up the director’s seat: Guillermo Del Toro, Matt Reeves, J. Blakeson, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Jeff Nichols. Del Toro is surely only in there because his name has to go on every shortlist. He already has his name pencilled in for roughly 923 projects, so as much as his work is frequently wonderful, the idea of committing to another complicated project seems unlikely.

Blakeson has only one feature to his name, the generally well-reviewed thriller The Disappearance of Alice Creed. Nichols trumps that with three: Shotgun Stories, Mud and Take Shelter. Either of those would be a brave choice, but it worked with Wyatt, who had only directed The Escapist before being entrusted with Apes. Fresnadillo or Reeves would seem the safest choices, having directed 28 Weeks Later and Cloverfield, respectively. Those two know how to send the world into chaos.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes already has a set release date in May 2014, so expect an official announcement about a new director, who will likely immediately look very stressed, in the next couple of weeks.

Tom Hardy Scaling EverestTom Hardy seems to be in a new film every few weeks recently. Which is fine. He’s very good. To keep that schedule up, he’s just signed on for another project, this one entailing no crime fighting whatsoever. Hardy is in talks to play George Mallory, a man who in the 1920s aimed to be the first person to reach the top of Mount Everest. Now, if you know your Everest history you’ll know he’s not credited as the first man to make it to the top, but his attempt was interesting, including two attempts and a very chilly ending.

The film will be directed by Doug Liman, a man who never seems to get the credit he deserves. Aside from the enormously enjoyable Mr and Mrs Smith,Go and Swingers, he’s also the man who established the Bourne films with The Bourne Identity, before Paul Greengrass swept in and diverted all the glory. Liman’s eye for scale and action could make this a very interesting project.

Counting The Days Until…StokerPark Chan Wook is best known as the director of Old Boy and he’s making his English language debut with Stoker. Nicole Kidman, practically hissing with villainy, is a horrible mother who begins an affair with her late husband’s brother. Mia Wasikowska is the daughter with a very odd relationship with both. It looks super weird, but intriguingly so. Odd fact: It’s written by Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller.